One woman is dead another seriously injured when their cars collided on Route 5 in Pembroke.

61-year-old Mary Smith of Pembroke was alone in her car around 2:30 yesterday afternoon. A mini-van crossed the center line and crashed head-on into Smith’s vehicle.

Mary Smith was pronounced dead at the scene.

The mini-van was driven by 55-year-old Victoria Zimmer of Clarence. She suffered serious injuries and was taken to ECMC by Mercy Flight.

Chief Deputy Gordon Dibble with the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office said that why the mini-van crossed into the opposite lane is unknown and is the subject of investigation.

The city and town of Batavia and Genesee County get some extra state money just because Batavia Downs is located here. It’s called VLT aid. VLT’s are the slot machines that generate most of the cash at the Downs. That state aid is going up in the new state budget. State Senator Michael Ranzenhofer says the city of Batavia will get 346-thousand dollars…up 22 percent from last year. The city has decided to use a big chunk of that cash to continue funding the office of Community Development.

Senator Chuck Schumer is calling for the federal government to increase counter terrorism funding for the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority. Schumer says funding for the NFTA explosive detection team of six officers and two dogs faces the possibility of disbanding when their funding runs out this month. The senator says he will urge the Department of Homeland Security to make the continued funding of the team a priority. He says this is crucial following the Boston Marathon bombings and the recently thwarted Canada-based train terror threat.

Due to the climate, it’s not often that Genesee County residents can eat strawberries grown right here, especially this early in the year; but starting Wednesday, Harrington’s Produce on Clinton Street Road in Batavia will be offering locally grown strawberries.

Pudgie Riner, owner of Triple P Farms in Oakfield, says came across a picture online of a farmer in Denmark growing strawberries from hanging baskets in a hothouse. Soon, he realized he could do the same locally.

“The concern is now," Riner said, "if we have fresh strawberries from New York, then no one’s going to believe us. These really are grown right here – they aren’t from Florida; they aren’t from California. They’re in the same varieties that we’re used to eating from the ground, and these are in a basket.”